Maritime refugee journeys: Solidarity, regional processing and saving lives at sea
The exodus of Indochinese ‘boat people’ from Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos spanned more than two decades from the 1970s to the 1990s. This movement of over 3 million refugees via dangerous maritime routes elicited a global response, including the Comprehensive Plan of Action (CPA) for Indochinese Refugees which was the first international attempt to introduce region-wide processing of asylum seekers.
This session explored the impact of maritime displacement on displaced communities and evaluates the potential of regional initiatives such as the CPA to develop our understanding of the potentials of ‘regional processing’ today.
With speakers Dr Anh Nguyen Austen (Australian Catholic University) and Riona Moodley (University of New South Wales).
This session was part of the 15th International Refugee Law Seminar Series: Moments in Refugee History and the Development of the Modern Refugee Regime: Understanding refugee law and policy today convened by the Refugee Law Initiative in collaboration with Refugee History.